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This article examines some religious means that socio-economically mobile low caste families use to identify themselves as 'middle-class people' in an urban setting in the south Indian city of Hyderabad. Special attention is paid to the situation of ex-Untouchables whose religious strategies, through partly specific to them, nevertheless reveal tendencies that are general among low caste Hindus in urban areas. The portrait of an ex-Untouchable family in Hyderabad and the arrangement of the ritual of Sri Satya Narayana wratam illuminates the Hindu religious strategies that they consider pivotal in the acquisition of social respectability. Although low caste middle-class people share certain of the cultural concep tions of the wider Indian (and Hindu) scene, they interpret ritualistic Hinduism in a non hegemonic frame, emphasising features that may differ radically from the ideologically dominant version of cultural competence. The article shows that new middle-class people seek to create a 'middle-class Hinduism' devoid of caste, and focussed on auspiciousness, rather than purity and pollution.

By analyzing the practice of female sterilization in rural Andhra Pradesh, in southern India, this article examines the role culture plays in demographic research. The popularity of female sterilization in rural Andhra Pradesh is shown to be intelligible if the symbolic value of a young mother's reproductive capacity is understood in terms of familial power relations. Through sterilization, young mothers can symbolically push their influential mothers‐in‐law toward old age, thus increasing their own relative prestige, and they can strive to control the ambiguity surrounding their reproductive functions. This study is based on 14 months of participant observation in three rural villages, a survey of 396 households, and unstructured interviews with 42 women and two men. It shows how demography and anthropology can be mutually supportive in their efforts to clarify population phenomena.

SummaryIn life history theory, early life adversity is associated with an accelerated reproductive tempo. In harsh and unpredictable conditions in developing societies fertility is generally higher and the reproductive tempo faster than in more secure environments. This paper examines whether differences in female anthropometry, particularly adult height, are associated with fertility intentions of women in urban environments in India. The study population consists of women aged 15–29 (N=4485) in slums and non-slums of eight Indian cities in the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) of 2005–2006. Adult height is taken as a proxy for early childhood health and nutritional condition. Fertility intentions are examined by using two variables: the desire to have a child or another child, and to have it relatively soon, as indicative of accelerated reproductive scheduling. Evidence supporting the acceleration hypothesis is found in two urban frames out of 26 examined in a two-staged multinomial logistic model. In three cases, the relationship between fertility intentions and height is the opposite than expected by the acceleration hypothesis: taller women have a higher predictive probability of desiring a(nother) child and/or narrower birth spacing. Potential explanations for the partly contradictory relationship between the childhood health indicator and fertility intentions are discussed.

Background: Researchers and activists have expressed concerns over the lack of availability and nonuse of reversible, modern, contraceptive methods in India for decades. New attempts to increase access, availability, and acceptance of reversible contraceptives need to be developed, instead of relying solely on female sterilization. Mobile health (mHealth) initiatives may offer one way to serve underprivileged populations who face challenges in sexual and reproductive health (SRH) in countries such as India. Objective: This study aimed to examine the outcome of an mHealth intervention for enhancing knowledge of, and practices related to, reversible contraceptives in rural Western India. Methods: We implemented a nonrandomized controlled trial (before-and-after study in an intervention area and a control area) in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The intervention in this case was a mobile-based SRH helpline provided by a nongovernmental organization (NGO). Baseline and follow-up surveys were carried out in two government-run primary health center areas, one each in the intervention and control area, and 405 respondents were surveyed in the two rounds. An interview-based structured questionnaire suitable for a low-literacy environment was used to collect data. The effect of the intervention was estimated using logistic regression, adjusted for gender, by calculating robust standard errors to take into account the clustering of individuals by the area (intervention or control). In each regression model, the effect of intervention was estimated by including a term for interaction between the intervention area and the period before and after the intervention. The exponent of the regression coefficient of the interaction term corresponding to the period after the intervention, along with the 95% CI, is reported here. The odds ratio for the control village multiplied by this exponent gives the odds ratio for the intervention village. Calls received in the intervention were recorded and their topics analyzed. Results: The current use of reversible contraception (18% increase in intervention area vs 2% increase in control area; 95% CI) has seen changes. The proportion of respondents who had heard of contraception methods from an NGO rose in the intervention area by 23% whereas it decreased in the control area by 1% (95% CI). However, the general level of awareness of reversible contraception, shown by the first contraceptive method that came to respondents' mind, did not improve. Demand for wider SRH information beyond contraception was high. Men and adolescents, in addition to married women, made use of the helpline. Conclusions: A mobile helpline that one can confidentially approach at a time most convenient to the client can help provide necessary information and support to those who need reversible contraception or other sexual health information. Services that integrate mHealth in a context-sensitive way to other face-to-face health care services add value to SRH services in rural India ; Peer reviewed